India's HDFC Bank quarterly profit rises 4.7%, narrowly misses estimates as treasury income slumps

MUMBAI: India’s largest private-sector lender, HDFC Bank, reported a second-quarter profit on Saturday that narrowly missed analyst expectations, as weaker treasury income and higher provisions for bad loans offset strong lending growth.

The results come days before a leadership change at the Mumbai-based lender. Anup Bagchi, a veteran of the ICICI group, takes over as managing director and CEO for three years from October 27, becoming HDFC Bank’s first external chief executive.

Bagchi takes charge amid increased scrutiny of the bank’s governance, profitability and operational performance.

The lender posted a standalone net profit of 195.10 billion Indian rupees ($2.05 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, compared with 186.41 billion rupees in the year-earlier period.

Analysts had estimated a profit of 195.26 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

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Treasury trading gains fell to 7.8 billion rupees from 23.9 billion rupees a year earlier, weighing on earnings despite broad-based loan growth.

Other income, which includes gains on bonds and other investments, fell 3.6% to 138.31 billion rupees.

Indian lenders reported strong credit growth in the quarter across corporate and retail loans.

HDFC Bank’s net interest income rose 9.7% to 346.19 billion rupees, with total loans up 16.3%. Deposits grew 18.8% from a year earlier, and the credit-to-deposit ratio stood at 96.0%.

Provisions for potential bad loans and other contingencies rose 2.1% to 35.74 billion rupees.

Asset quality improved. The gross non-performing asset ratio was 1.11% at the end of September, compared with 1.17% at the end of June.